SPAGHETTI SAUCE WITH MEAT - SLOW METHOD

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, combine bouillon and reserved tomato skins and juice.
• Bring to a boil, and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally and mashing pulp against side of pan.
• Reserve.
• Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in large skillet.
• Add garlic and chopped onions, and saute over medium-high heat until soft.
• Add peppers, and continue cooking until onions are slightly browned.
• In a large pot, combine chopped tomatoes and onion mixture.
• Strain bouillon mixture into pot, pressing on pulp to maximize liquid, discarding pulp.
• Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, wine, and spices.
• Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer covered, stirring regularly to prevent sticking and burning.
• In a large skillet over medium heat, break up 2 pounds ground beef into small pieces.
• Season to taste with salt, pepper, granulated garlic, and optional MSG.
• Cook until browned, continuing to break up meat with a large fork.
• Drain excess grease, and add meat to tomato mixture.
• Continue cooking sauce, covered, for about 1 hour.
• In a large bowl, combine thoroughly 1-1/2 lb ground beef, egg, onion, garlic, Italian seasoning, MSG, salt, and pepper, and breadcrumbs, adjusting to a firm consistency by varying amount of breadcrumbs.
• Form into 3/4" meatballs.
• Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in large skillet.
• Add half of meatballs, and brown well over high heat.
• Remove meatballs from pan, and reserve.
• Repeat with remaining meatballs.
• Drain grease from pan, but do not clean it.
• Pierce skins of Italian sausages with a sharp fork.
• Place in the skillet with about 1/2" of water.
• Simmer over medium heat for about 10 minutes to render excess grease, turning several times.
• Do not scrape bottom of pan while turning.
• Drain water, and return pan to heat.
• Continue cooking, turning sausages regularly, until skins are browned.
• Remove from heat, and cool until sausages can be handled.
• Cut each sausage crosswise into 1/4" slices.
• Return to pan, and brown over medium-high heat.
• Reserve sausage, and drain all but 2 Tbsp grease from pan.
• Do not clean the pan.
• Alternately, sausage can be removed from casing and cooked with the ground beef noted as in the first paragraph, and adding the following steps at that point.
• Add 2 Tbsp butter to pan, and heat until sizzling.
• Add mushrooms, and toss to coat with butter.
• Saute over medium heat until mushrooms start releasing juice.
• Add 1/2 cup wine, and simmer about 5 minutes, scraping bottom of pan thoroughly to deglaze.
• Remove from heat, and reserve.
• After tomato mixture has simmered for 1 hour, add meatballs, sausage slices, fresh basil, parsley, and mushroom mixture to sauce.
• Continue cooking for about 15 minutes.
• Adjust seasoning, adding more Italian seasoning, sugar, and salt and pepper as needed.
• If sauce is too thick, thin with tomato juice or wine.
• If sauce is too thin, continue cooking, uncovered, until desired consistency is reached.
• Cover, and continue cooking for 1 additional hour, stirring regularly.
• There should be little or no grease on top of the sauce.
• If there is, skim or blot off and discard.
• Toss 2-3 cups of the sauce with hot pasta that has been cooked until al dente.
• Divide into serving portions.
• Top each portion with about 1 cup of additional sauce.
• Pass freshly grated Parmesan cheese on the side.
• This may seem like a very large recipe, but it obviously takes quite awhile to prepare, so make the full recipe, and freeze the excess in fairly small containers.
• It will keep for 6-8 months easily, and in my opinion, tastes better after aging.
• If desired, and if you have a big enough pot, double the recipe, and pack in 1 quart Ziploc freezer bags for freezing.
• One quart of sauce and 1 lb of uncooked dry spaghetti, cooked until al dente, will serve 4 people.